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The
Christian Constitutional Society Charter (1.23)
The
Christian Constitutional Society Charter
Part
I Purpose:
The
purpose of the Christian Constitutional Society is to uphold
God’s standards for Civil Government in the United States of America.
We
believe that the rights of man are God-given, not state granted,
and that those rights are only secure when government itself
acknowledges this. The primary purpose of
government is to protect the God-given rights of its citizens.
We
believe that the Founders who authored the Constitution of the
United States understood the true Source of our rights.
Further, the rule of law is a fundamental part of God’s
standards for civil government, and the Constitution is the
authorizing document for our civil laws in the
United States.
We
believe that the will of God, as expressed in the Bible and
understood with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, is not only
capable of saving and improving individual lives, but also can
save and improve nations who give heed to and properly apply
those divine precepts relating to the sphere of government.
We
believe that the institutional church should be free and
independent of the Federal Government in order to be a pillar
for it when it does right, and to rebuke and oppose it when it
does wrong. Though the state and the church are
separate instruments, neither is outside the sovereignty of God.
The Church is His minister for grace and mercy, and the State is
His minister for justice.
There
can be no separation of Christian principles from state without
disenfranchisement of Christian believers, and Christians have
as much right as any other group to draw their principles of
government from the things they hold true.
We
believe that the ultimate result of upholding God’s standards
for civil government is to produce government that serves people
better, whether those people love God, hate God, or are
indifferent to Him. Let us conduct ourselves
as the Word declares, knowing that our true enemies are not
people, but rather vain philosophies and ideas that ultimately
do the nation and it’s citizens great harm.
Part
II Our Confession:
Men
and Women who are of loving heart and in agreement with our
platform may become members of the Christian
Constitutional Society if they believe and confess:
We
believe in God Almighty,
Who
is the Father in Heaven,
And
the Son, Jesus Christ,
And
the Holy Spirit
Who
are One God, and there is none besides Him.
This
same Jesus Christ is both Savior and Lord:
Who
was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
On
the third day He arose from the dead.
He
ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the
dead.
This
is recorded in the scriptures, which are authoritative and
God-breathed.
Part
III
Our Activities
We
will uphold God’ standards for civil government by means of
the following seven-fold activities broadly applied, with
prayers to God that our conduct be guided by the Holy Spirit of
God:
1.
Educate both ourselves and others on what God’s standards for
civil government are: The work of the Society is
therefore an extension of personal evangelism.
2.
Contend in the public arena with vain philosophies which exalt
themselves against the knowledge of God, particularly in matters
affecting public life and policy.
3.
Commend and support efforts by public officials to uphold
God’s standards for civil government.
4.
Endorse and support persons, ideas, and endeavors which uphold God’s standard’s for civil government.
5.
In cases where candidates for public office produced by other
means are incompatible with the goals of the Society; to recruit and support
better candidates ourselves, whether they run under our banner or some
other.
6.
That the name of Christ be not maligned, to especially oppose those who
support unbiblical policies in His name or who benefit by
association with His name while supporting such policies or
exhibiting a lack of virtue.
7.
Mindful that throughout history all Republics end when their
people and their leaders lose the virtue required to sustain
self-government, in the sad event that our Republic fails,
members of the society will work and act so that whatever
succeeds the American Republic is as just and noble as
circumstances permit.
Part
IV: The Organization of the Christian Constitutional Society:
1.
Our society shall be organized into firstly a National Society,
consisting of a President and a minimum of nine and a maximum of
twelve members, of whom four and the president (or his
designated fellow member) to be a quorum.
Robert’s Rules of Order Should be observed at business
meetings. Meetings
shall be held from time to time at the discretion of the
chairman, who is the President or his designated fellow member, but not less than twice per year.
Meetings may be held via electronic means at the
discretion of the President.
2.
The National Society may grant charters, subject to renewal in
the summer of each odd numbered year by a majority vote of the
National Society, to State Societies in each state where a
sufficient number of willing and worthy souls shall be found.
The national society shall approve the initial members of
the new society.
3.
Each State Society shall consist of a President and a minimum of
nine and a maximum, of twelve members, of whom four and the
President (or his designated fellow member) to be a quorum.
Robert’s Rules of Order Should be observed at business meetings.
Meetings shall be held from time to time at the
discretion of the chairman, who is the President or his
designated fellow-member, but not less than twice per year.
Meetings may be held via electronic means at the
discretion of the chairman.
4.
A State Society may grant charters, subject to renewal in the
spring or summer of each odd numbered year by a majority vote of
the State Society, to District Societies where a sufficient number of willing and worthy souls
shall be found. State Societies set and may annually adjust the
boundaries of such districts. The number of district
charters granted by a State Society shall not exceed the number
of congressional seats in that state.
5.
Except as a result of redistricting, each District Society
shall consist of a President and a minimum of nine and a maximum
of twelve members, of whom four and the President (or his
designated fellow member) to be a quorum. Should
redistricting of congressional seats after each census result in
new districts exceeding the maximum number of members through
combination, then the districts may temporarily have more than a
President and twelve members, but no new members shall be added
until the number of members drops below twelve. In cases
where more than one District President should be present due to
combination, the State President shall choose among them as
President of the new district. Should a district be
divided so that each new district has less than nine members,
the State President shall appoint a District President in the
new district in which no past President lived and the District
Society is granted two years to add the minimum required number
of members, lest its charter be revoked.
6.
Societies may grant commissions to guardians or others to
advance the ongoing work of the Society. These commissions
may be of a general or mission-limited nature. General
commissions for a Guardian Company may be granted where ten or
more heads of households apply to a society for such a
commission. Commissions
indicate the blessing, approval, and support of the Society in
the deeds they describe. General commissions are
subject to renewal in the Spring of every even numbered
year.
7.
No person who is a County, State, or National Committee member
of a political party which fails to acknowledge, both formally
and informally, that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of
mankind can be accepted for a seat on the Christian
Constitutional Society on either the National, State, or
District level, and membership in any such party is
grounds for expulsion. Additionally, in the case of abandonment (which is defined as
missing three or more meetings in a row), or cases
of criminal activity, or moral turpitude, or
professing doctrine contradictory to our Society Confession,
motions for expulsion may be considered.
Such motions require a three-fourths majority to
pass.
Part
V: Changes in Membership and Office:
1.
A
seat on a society may become open from time to time, and
after six years of continuous service each society member shall
resign his seat and seek election to it should they desire to
continue to serve therein. Open
seats are to be filled by vote at
a meeting time and place set by the President and made known to members of that
society at least 40 days in advance.
For filling open seats on the National Society, each national
member has a vote and each State Society is permitted two
delegates to represent the state society and one delegate from
each District Society active in that state. For
filling open seats on State Societies, each member of the state
society has a vote, each District Society is permitted two
delegates from themselves and one delegate for each company of
Guardians they have awarded a General Commission, provided those
delegates meet all the criteria of a society member.
Guardian Companies with a General Commission directly from the
State Society also get one delegate, provided they meet all the
criteria required of a regular society member. For filling open seats on District Societies
each district member has a vote and each company of Guardians in
that district with a General Commission is permitted one delegate, provided
those delegates meet all the criteria required of a society
member.
2.
Society
members should select by majority vote on secret ballot a
Society President from among their members for a term of
approximately two years at the same meeting at which
charters for lesser societies are renewed, or if none being
renewed that year, at a meeting in the summer of each odd
numbered year, time and place to be set by the current President
or his designated alternate. 3.
In elections for both seats on a Society or for a Society
Presidency, if no candidate gains a majority on
the first round of ballots cast, then a second round shall be
held in which the two candidates with the most votes
compete. If there is a tie number of votes in the first
round either for second place or more than two candidates are
tied for first, the second candidate will be determined by
random drawing from among those in a tie in the prior case and
both candidates will be determined by random drawing from those
who are tied in the second. The sitting President will
vote to break all ties in any run-off, and the new President
will appoint officers to any other offices as needed, subject to majority
approval.
Part
VI: Changes in Charter or Platform
1.
Some
planks of the platform may be designated “Core Value”
planks. A
supermajority is required to alter any plank in the platform
which is designated a “core value”, and a similar
super-majority is required to designate a plank item as a
“core value” or to remove the status of “core value”
from an existing plank which is so designated, as outlined
below.
2.
Beginning
in 2012 and continuing each even numbered year, the National
Society shall have a meeting, the time and place announced
well in advance, which shall include in its business any
proposed changes to our platform or charter. This shall be
the National Platform and Charter Meeting. They shall
promulgate proposed changes to the platform and/or this
Charter to the State Societies, such changes being given
conditional approval by a majority vote of the National
Society quorum. State
Societies shall have 40 days to vote “for” or
“against” the changes.
Proposed changes to the Charter or “Core Value”
platform planks shall require at least a three-fifths
majority of the National Society Members to pass and shall
not become ratified if one quarter or more of state
chapters vote “against” such changes, and so notify the
National Society, within 40 days of promulgation of the
change. Non-core
platform proposed changes shall not be ratified if a
majority of State Societies vote “against” them within
40 days of their promulgation.
3.
After
2011, States Societies may also initiate changes to the
Charter or Platform by presenting petitions for the same
change approved in the case of non-core platform items by a
majority of state societies to the bi-annual
platform/charter National Society meeting, or in the case of
Charter or Core Value platform changes, by presenting
petitions approved by at least three-fourths of the state
societies. Such
petition must be placed on the agenda if a State Society
President presents the National President with a petitions
signed by majorities of three-fourths of the State Societies
at least one day in advance of the National Society Platform
and Charter Meeting. Such
changes become ratified at the conclusion of the National
Society Platform and Charter Meeting unless vetoed by a
three-fifths majority of National Society members present. Part
VII: Issuing of Endorsements, Considerations, and Commissions,
and Warnings.
1.
From the Scriptures, continuing to the words of the Founders,
and now among us, it is known and understood that a Christian
people should select and prefer Christians as their
rulers. Failing that we should prefer observant Jews who hold sacred the Law and the Prophets,
for good government comes from good will combined with a right
view of who God and man really are.
Be
that as it may, if we live in a time and place where the people
have forgotten God, then the scriptures teach us it is often
consistent with the Divine will that they have rulers which
reflect the population's own lack of virtue. As Daniel
Webster said, those who will not be ruled by God shall be
governed by tyrants. History affirms to us that good
government simply cannot be sustained once a people forsake
Godly virtue. Because of this, we can lay down no absolute
rules about the required faith or policies of any candidates
which we may
choose to endorse for public office. If the people listen,
then we may with highest confidence endorse the noble souls who
would offer themselves for public service. Should the
people continue double-minded, it may be the best we can do is
give our blessing to the tyrannical ruler who will best restrain
an even more wicked population. Finally, if the
population willfully rejects God, any efforts to promote good
government will only interfere with the coming judgment on the
nation. Fighting for good government then would be working
at cross-purposes with our God. Our best course of action
in such a case would be to forsake all hope of anointing any
ruler, and rather spend our days as the Prophets did, issuing
warnings so that the people may at least know why the coming
ruin came to pass. In such a time as this, guidance for
who and what to endorse cannot be put down in set rules, but our
goal is to seek the will of God for our day.
2.
Our support can be expressed by majority vote of a Society in an
Endorsement, which indicates our full exclusive support whether
to a candidate within an election or a public initiative; or it
can be expressed in a Consideration, which indicates support but
perhaps not exclusive support. For initiatives which
we oppose, or in elections where we can find no candidate worthy
to legitimize with our vote, the Society may issue Warnings,
which state the reasons for our refusal to extend our legitimacy
to any candidate in a given race, or to a given public
initiative.
3.
Each society should exercise
care not to issue conflicting commissions or Endorsements. Commissions,
as with Endorsements, indicate the blessing, approval, and support of the Society in
the deeds and candidates they describe. In the case
of an office or work whose boundaries are mostly outside the
geographic boundaries of a Society, that Society should defer to
the judgment of a Society whose boundaries are more inclusive of
the office. In the case of offices whose boundaries fall
completely within the boundary of a lesser Society, then the
larger and more distant Society should defer to the lesser
Society. For example, if no consensus can be reached
then individual State Societies should defer to the National
Society in regards to Presidents and national works, but the
National Society should defer to each state as regards to
Senators, Governors and works contained in the boundaries of
that state. Let all things be done in love, prayer,
humility, and respect and affection for one another.
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